Hormuz to Remain Closed Until U.S. Accepts Iran’s Conditions
TEHRAN — The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States halts its blockade and accepts Iran’s conditions for implementing the recent memorandum of understanding, the spokesperson for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. Hussein Mohebbi said the strategic waterway is firmly under Iranian control and that hostile military forces have been pushed back.
“The Strait of Hormuz is in our hands, and no enemy military vessels are currently present inside the
Persian Gulf,” he said.
Mohebbi said warships have retreated at least 400 kilometers from the strait and that, from a military and territorial standpoint, “no vessel is capable of transiting this waterway without Iran’s permission and management.”
He said Iran has been negotiating with Oman for about a month over the administration of the waterway, which is bordered by Iran and Oman. The two sides, he said, have reached mutually acceptable agreements concerning the demarcation of their respective shares of the strait and the distribution of revenues generated by maritime traffic.
Mohebbi also said waters near the Omani coast are under joint control. But he identified the United States as the main obstacle to normalizing traffic through the strategic waterway.
“The United States is creating obstacles in this process, which has caused delays,” he said.
Mohebbi said Iran is prepared to reopen the strait within the framework of the existing MoU if Washington ends its interference and returned to its commitments. “Therefore, the United States must accept our conditions,” he said.
“If the U.S. does not accept our conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will under no circumstances be reopened.”
The remarks came as Iran and Oman moved toward a temporary framework for managing commercial shipping through the strait. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said the arrangement reached with Oman should not be interpreted as an immediate reopening of the waterway.
Under the proposed arrangement, commercial vessels entering the Persian Gulf would use Iranian territorial waters, while vessels leaving the Persian Gulf would use a route involving Iranian and Omani waters.
Gharibabadi said the temporary route would be about seven nautical miles wide and that Iran and Oman would negotiate over 30 to 60 days to establish a permanent route and future arrangements for managing the strait.
He said the southern route near the Omani coastline would be closed under the arrangement and that Oman had accepted the closure, which would be communicated to the International Maritime Organization.
Gharibabadi stressed that the temporary arrangement did not itself constitute the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
He said the waterway would remain closed unless Iran’s requirements for reopening were met, including the complete lifting of the economic blockade against Iran, a durable end to aggression on all fronts, including Lebanon, and clarification of the situation concerning the blockade of Yemen.
He also said Washington would have to fulfill its commitments under the Islamabad MoU and refrain from threatening Iran or launching further military operations against the country.
Gharibabadi said the circumstances surrounding the strait had changed following the 40-day war and that Hormuz had become a matter of Iran’s national security.
“Following the 40-day war, the Strait of Hormuz has become a matter of Iran’s national security,” he said.
He said Iran has therefore sought fundamental changes in the maritime routes used for vessels entering and leaving the Persian Gulf.
The proposed framework follows talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi, in Tehran on Tuesday.
The two countries said they have discussed a phased framework that can provide a basis for managing maritime traffic, including a temporary navigational corridor and joint mine-clearing efforts. Further negotiations are expected to address a permanent corridor, future administration, information-sharing and traffic management.
Mohebbi said Tehran’s position was clear: the waterway will not be reopened without acceptance of Iran’s conditions.
The IRGC spokesman also said Iran and Oman have reached agreements over the distribution of revenues from maritime traffic, while stressing that the strait remains under Iranian control from a military and territorial standpoint.
Gharibabadi said any permanent arrangement would replace the previous maritime traffic separation scheme and would be negotiated jointly by Iranian and Omani authorities.
He added that Iran has no objection to reaching a long-term understanding with Oman but insisted that its security concerns must be incorporated into any future arrangement.
The negotiations are being conducted through a joint working group involving Iran’s Foreign Ministry, the IRGC, the General Staff of the Armed Forces and naval forces, Gharibabadi said.